The use of a Taser to subdue a Chinese university student mistakenly suspected of trespassing in his own apartment in September was, in a word, controversial. And video of the incident only added furor to the hubbub, establishing that the officer fired his Taser after stumbling to the floor near the seated student.

So today's story in the Eugene Register-Guard comes as a shock:

Civil rights advocates and members of the
local Asian-American community weren’t the only people who disagreed
with Eugene police Chief Pete Kerns’ decision to exonerate an officer
who used a Taser stun gun to subdue a non-English-speaking Chinese
college student mistaken as a trespasser in his own townhouse.

City Police Auditor Mark Gissiner — who
oversaw a police department investigation into the case — said
Wednesday that he informed Kerns prior to the chief’s ruling that he
felt officer Judd Warden inappropriately fired the Taser.

“Based on my review of the totality of the
circumstances, I did not think that level of force was justified,”
Gissiner said about one hour after Kerns issued a memo announcing his
determination that Warden did no wrong.